PM/AM: Kill All Zombies

Welcome to PM/AM, Popular Mechanics' morning briefing on the top science and tech stories for today.

Photo credit: The Walking Dead, AMC

Although zombies have steadily consumed pop culture since George Romero gave the walking dead a cannibalistic appetite, they have yet to invade our reality. But for the sake of preparedness, the U.S. government has a plan—sort of. Foreign Policy reports that the Pentagon actually has a plan in place if zombies try to destroy us all.

In reality, that's only half-true. Labeled CONOP 8888, the "Counter-Zombie Dominance" plan exists as a creative means to teach recruits. The 31-page plan contains several examples of zombies one might conceivably encounter, such the pathogenic zombie, the radiation zombie, the evil magic zombie, and good ol' symbiant-induced zombie. Another reason for the plan's fiction is to avoid fallout that would occur if "the general public believes that a fictional training scenario is actually a real plan."

Except that hasn't stopped the media from using some fact-stretching headlines. (Example: The Pentagon Has a Plan to Stop the Zombie Apocalypse. Seriously.)

Of course, there's nothing wrong with having a little fun—until that fun is gnawing your face off.

Read This

Remember when we said a giant-sized iPhone was coming? Well, now it's closer than ever. [via href='http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/14/tesla-motors-elon-musk-will-help-fund-a-nikola-tesla-museum/' target='_blank">Engadget

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

For the past two months, we" ve="" been="" totally="" obsessed="" with="" all="" things="" Game of Thrones. And our intake of GoT-related internet parodies has multiplied ten-fold. This one might be our favorite. YouTuber NicksplosionFX had the brilliant idea to merge two great geek franchises into one; the result is a Game of Thrones/Super Mario World mashup that's almost as visually and musically impressive as the original credits. Still, we'd imagine that the content of such a television show would be much more G-rated in comparison. [via Wired

'>

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.